(a) Charges shall be made for services rendered to each person under a county contract in accordance with this section. Charges for the care and treatment of each client receiving service under a county contract shall not exceed the actual cost thereof as determined by the director in accordance with standard accounting practices. The fee requirement shall not apply to prevention and early intervention services. The director is not prohibited from including the amount of expenditures for capital outlay or the interest thereon, or both, in their determination of actual cost. The responsibility of a client, their estate, or their responsible relatives to pay the charges shall be determined in accordance with this section. (b) Each county shall determine the liability of clients rendered services under a county contract, and of their estates or responsible relatives, to pay the charges according to ability to pay. Each county shall collect the charges. The county shall establish and maintain policies and procedures for making the determinations of liability and collections, by collecting third-party payments and from other sources to the maximum extent practicable. The written criteria shall be a public record and shall be made available to the department or any individual. Fees collected shall be retained at the local level and be applied toward the purchase of additional alcohol and drug services. (c) Services shall not be denied because of a clientâs ability or inability to pay. County-operated and contract providers of treatment services shall set and collect fees using methods approved by the county alcohol and drug program administrator. All approved fee systems shall conform to all of the following guidelines and criteria: (1) The fee system used shall be equitable. (2) The fee charged shall not exceed actual cost. (3) Systems used shall consider the clientâs income and expenses. (4) Each provider fee system shall be approved by the county alcohol and drug program administrator. A description of each approved system shall be on file in the county board office. (d) To ensure an audit trail, the county or provider, or both, shall maintain all of the following records: (1) Fee assessment schedules and collection records. (2) Documents in each clientâs file showing clientâs income and expenses, and how each was considered in determining fees. (e) Each county shall furnish the director with a cost report of information the director shall require to enable the director to maintain a cost-reporting system of the costs of alcohol and other drug program services in the county funded in whole or in part by funds identified in the county contract with the department. The cost-reporting system established pursuant to this section shall supersede the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 16366.7 of the Government Code for a quarterly fiscal reporting system. An annual cost report, for the fiscal year ending June 30, shall be submitted to the department by November 1. (f) The Legislature recognizes that alcohol and other drug programs may provide a variety of services described in this part, which services will vary depending on the needs of the communities that the programs serve. In devising a system to ensure that a county has expended its funds pursuant to an approved county contract, including the budget portions of the contract, the department shall take into account the flexibility that a county has in the provision of services and the changing nature of alcohol and other drug programs in responding to the communityâs needs. (g) The department shall maintain a reporting system to ensure that counties have budgeted and expended their funds pursuant to their approved contracts. (h) (1) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department may implement, interpret, or make specific the amendmen
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